Paraganglioma metastásico: imagen con 18F-fluordesoxiglucosatomografía por emisión de positrones

The paragangliomas are a rare neuroendocrine group of tumors that can occur anywhere along paraganglia system. Most of them are benign and of slow progression, however about 10% of them will have metastases. The large majority (80-85%) of these tumors arise from the adrenal medulla and are called pheochromocytomas, while 15-20% originate in chromaffin tissue at extra-adrenal sites, and are called paragangliomas. There are inherited variants (25%), and the disease may also present with multifocality. They can appear anywhere in paraganglia system and may be associated with sympathetic nervous tissue (adrenal medulla, the organ of Zuckerkandl, or other chromaffin cells that can persist beyond embryogenesis), or the parasympathetic nervous system (chemoreceptors, which are found mainly in the head and neck). Therefore, paragangliomas can be distributed from the base of the skull to the sacrum. Nuclear medicine imaging can help to fully define the disease.